GALVESTON, Texas (AP) _ Students at a Texas university are trying to raise money to pay a wrongfully imprisoned former inmate a $250 speaking fee denied by the state over unpaid child support that accrued while the man was on death row.
Anthony Graves recently visited Prairie View A&M to tell his story of spending 18 years behind bars, including 12 on death row, for murders that prosecutors now say he didn’t commit.
The state comptroller has refused to pay nearly $1.4 million in compensation because the order detailing Graves’ exoneration lacks the words “actual innocence.” Graves is suing to change the
order.
A judge ordered that Graves owes back child support, leading to denial of the speaking fee. Graves tells the Houston Chronicle he was “touched” by the efforts of Prairie View students.